bella's petit gateau

go red...por tu corazón women!

2012-02-03T12:22:00.000-07:00

ciao, amigas!
it's that time of year again, it's the first friday of february! time to remind each other of heart disease awareness. did you know that it kills nearly 500,000 women annually?! it's the number one killer of women. yes it's more deadly, annually, than breast cancer!

en espanol mas informaccion: go red por tu corazón
more information in english: go red for women!
show all the women and men in your life how much your heart means to you, wear red!
have a fabulous weekend! thanks for stopping by and supporting my blog.

abrazos y amor,
bella

i'm a tia...again!

2012-01-15T23:05:00.000-07:00

ciao, amigas! i just had to share my exciting news:
i'm an auntie again!
my sister and her lovely husband, randy, welcomed a bouncing baby boy into the world yesterday! i don't have all of the deets but i know his name is "mason". awww :-)
i created the card below in mds just for them!

thanks for stopping by and supporting my blogs!
abrazos y amor,
bella

cough sneeze sniffle yuck!

2011-10-06T10:53:00.000-06:00

ciao amigas! i hope this post finds you all in much better condition than i am! omg! i've been so sick! my dr says i've got it bad! i think i need to own stock in flonase! lol!
i apologize i've been so m.i.a. lately. i've just been really, really, ill. the colder weather exacerbates my tics and spasms and to have a severe cold and allergy issue on top of it~ i've been in bed a lot! the cough from my post-nasal drip is so severe it gags me. ugh! yuck! i have felt much too awful to even blog in advance so you'd have something to read everyday. i'm working on getting better each day, though. i suppose if i weren't such a naturalist i could take a prescription and be past it but i prefer to let nature run its course so i'm not needlessly taking antibiotics or things of that nature. next month i'm going to budget for a really good neti pot! i'll tell you a fabulous tip though ~ take vicks vaporub and rub it on the bottom of your feet at night and wear socks. omg! it totally works! i have to thank my beautiful "scrappin' mafiosa" for that little tip! yep, she sent it to me all the way from australia! :-)
having been able to watch general conference over the weekend was such a comfort. i know my heavenly father is always looking out for me and i will survive anything that comes my way.
speaking of being a survivor, i hope all of you are doing your bse's and having your mammograms as admonished by your physicians. i recently changed my dr and so i will find out if i truly need biopsies on the right breast. no matter, i know if it's cancer i will beat it like my mum did! she taught me how to be a survivor! she fought her way out of a comatose state after being given a 3% chance to live! so si se puede! this is breast cancer awareness month and i admonish you all to take care of your tatas! let the photos below, again remind you to get your tests and diagnostic screenings! pink is my favorite color and it's awesome it's associated with something so important! get your mammograms, amigas! below the pics i have some fabulous news!

the fabulous news?! i have some really awesome things to share with you once i'm feeling well enough to get them posted. until then salud, amigas! thank you for stopping by and supporting my blog!
abrazos y amor,
bella

beans, beans, the magical fruit... hee hee

2011-09-24T17:23:00.000-06:00

yep! that's what's for dinner~chili beans and cornbread. i just know my granny would be so proud of me if she were down here, in southern california, to partake in this lovely dinner i'm fixing for tonight. i mean i even have a smoked hamhock in the beans!

(photo not indicative of tonight's actual meal. for illustration purposes only. it's actually the pic from the dinner odie and i fixed a couple of weekends ago~he made the beans. i made the bread. it was a great and delicious collaboration hee hee!)
i would like to thank albers for making the best cornmeal on the planet! having albers made my cornbread come out so fabulously! here's my recipe if you'd like to try it:
bella's cornbread~
preheat oven to 400 degrees. place 10" cast iron skillet w/fat(smart balance/butter/bacon fat) into oven to melt and swirl around the pan. once melted remove from oven and pour into a ramekin to cool. place skillet aside.
1 1/4 c albers cornmeal
3/4 c unbleached all purpose gold medal flour
2/3 c c & h granulated sugar
1 T + 1 t calumet baking powder
1/3 t arm and hammer baking soda
1/3 t morton salt
1/4 c 8th continent vanilla soy milk
3/4 c horizon organic fat free milk
2/3 c (melted) smart balance or butter or bacon fat (hee hee yeah this is the naughty part of my cornbread)
1 egg, beaten
combine wet ingredients in bowl of kitchenaid w/paddle attachment. whisk together the dry ingredients in a separate bowl until well mixed. with the mixer on low, stir dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until incorporated a bit. add cooled fat and stir on low until well incorporated. remove bowl from mixer. pour batter into skillet and bake 20-26 minutes. edges of bread will detach from sides of skillet when done and center will be firm.
bon appetit!
i hope your weekend meal is just as hearty and tasty! thanks for stopping by, amigas, and supporting my blog! i truly appreciate you!
abrazos y amor,
bella

slip-up saturday

2011-09-17T19:19:00.000-06:00

yep, it's slip-up saturday! hee hee! too tired to post a "facebook friday" on top of other posts yesterday hee hee!
ciao amigas! how was your week?! i hope it was fabulous and blessed! mine?! o-m-g, long! here's how it went
monday~looked for mia. it's so hard for me to let go and truly admit that the "urban coyotes" may have gotten her. but the more time goes on, so it seems. :-(
tuesday~looked for mia and worked on my stampin' studio. called my grandmother. she was in the hospickle(hee hee didn't you just love the rugrats?) bless the lord it wasn't anything too, too, serious.
wednesday~early in the morning i went to pick up ciaran-liam. omg! i love that little snugglebug! he is so sweet and loving. i get weepy at night though because i wish miabella was snuggling with us. take a look at his beautiful green eyes, mills took this pic(not sure if it's a self portrait or one of ciaran-liam hee hee):

o-m-g! he's such a lovebug!
later on in the afternoon i went to the dr. when i got home, my other dr. called and said that i need a diagnostic mammogram of the left breast with ultrasound, an abdominal ultrasound because they saw a cyst on my liver on the breast mri, and biopsies on my right breast. i told the scheduler that we can set up appointments for the non-invasive stuff but as far as biopsies were concerned i was going to seek a second opinion. i just feel like i've been going to the hospital for something almost every single week since august. i'm getting worn out hee hee! i need to stay in bed and rest more!
thursday~ watched conchobhar-versace and ciaran-liam wrestle each other and just mostly rested. the weather has been sporadic and i've been so tic'y and achy. a sore scratchy throat and sleep deprivation just made me want to lie in bed mostly. and it doesn't help that mills sleeps when she gets home then decides at 2200 every night she needs help with her geometry. i just had to tell her, "i help with homework between 1430 and 2000, please do not ask me at 2200 because i will say no"
friday~slept in. yea! been having a lot of insomnia this week and it's just been hard to get to sleep before 0300 most nights. i got my appointments scheduled at the breast care center/radiologist. 29 september i'll be getting everything done(sans the biopsies). in the evening i called and checked on my grandmother. she was back home in sacramento and doing quite well.
today~arranged furniture in my studio and unpacked more stuff. i also watched the boys wrestle and play. i always love when cats and dogs can play and be so good to/with each other. i have such lovely kids! hee hee!
well amigas, i hope your weekend will be safe and fun! thanks for stopping by and see you next week! i have a few projects to share so bolo for those!
abrazos y amor,
bella

simply the best!

2011-09-16T21:51:00.000-06:00

omg! i've totally been dying to show you my first project with my simply scored scoring board!

it's simply fabulous! i'm so happy i waited to purchase a scoring board until now. stampin' up! has really hit the mark with this one (the one thing i wish it did was start at 1/16" increments but its 1/8" increments rock, too)! it has a comfortable stylus to make your score lines with and awesome little place markers for if you have several projects to score in the same place! stampin' up! was brilliant to include a little compartment on the scoring board to store extra place markers and even a small treat or bone folder! i absolutely adore it!
so the first thing i created with it was a never-ending birthday card for my dear friend, anett's daughter, anne. i have been waiting to show it to you because i wanted anne to get her card all the way in germany first. so...i received a message from netti, that they received my little packages., so now i'm finally ready to share the little card i created with you. you can see more views of it on netti's blog.

i used the dsp and card stock from my starter kit! yea!
i hope you like it! this card signifies three firsts for me~ 1. it's my first never-ending card. 2. my first project i made using my simply scored. and 3. it's the first thing i created with my starter kit components!
thanks for stopping by and supporting my blog!
abrazos y amor,
bella

purr...purrrrr...purrrrrrr...

2011-09-14T22:40:00.002-06:00

that's all ciaran-liam has done since they handed him to me today! yep, he's finally home!
omg! he's just the sweetest little kitty you'd ever want to know. i know mia would just adore him if she were here (yes, i checked again for her, at the shelter today, but she wasn't there nor was she on the "deceased list" :-( i will just have to look on a weekly basis for as long as it takes). i think the name ciaran is quite fitting since he's a little black kitten and it's so cool he has little brown stripes in his fur when you look at him in the sun. it's like he's a mini jaguar! lol! he is also a snuggler and a kisser! he will jump onto your lap and kiss you square on your nose or lips! too funny! he's a little casanova kitty hee hee! i told mills i should have named him "shadow" because he follows me everywhere like a puppy.
speaking of puppies, he gets on great with his big brother conchobhar-versace. they're really close in age and i think it's a good thing because they're both young enough to grow up with each other. conchobhar-versace was born on 19 february and ciaran-liam was born on 25 march. so it's fun they have a playmate (and when mia gets home, she will, too)!
omg! it's like, i can't even tell you how excited i am to have him home, finally! of course i had to document the day with a few photos! so i made a quick page in mds with pics from my webcam(the only camera i have right now lol).
take a look at my new little purrmeister:

i took these pics, like as soon as we got home from the shelter! yes, before i gave him a bath! rofl we all know my germ ocdness hee hee! but, o-m-g! he was so odiferous! yuck! ewww! i don't know what that smell was. now he smells like lavender baby bath, though. hee hee! and he's all shiny and sleek, like a clean panther, now. hee hee! oh, and btw, he handled the bath quite well. he's just a sweet, sweet little boy. he reminds me a lot of mia (i know that's how i was so attracted to him everytime i saw him). he loves and purrs on anyone that holds him, just as she would. he stays right by me or where he can see me, just as she would, too! i'd have to say, i didn't know i would meet such a lovely little boy (and fall so in love even through my grief) on all the trips we made to the animal shelter to look for miabella, but i'm really, really happy to be able to have him! he is definitely bringing some light into the darkness i've felt since mia went missing.
thanks for stopping by and sharing in my joy with the new addition to "our pride"(omg! speaking of pride, if i don't see the lion king before it leaves over the next couple of weeks i may go cuckoo! hee hee! i love, love, love that movie! the seven/eight weeks i was on bedrest, when i was preggers with mills, i would just lie in bed and watch the lion king vhs over and over(among other things)! after she was born it's one thing that i could turn on to soothe her and make her less fussy! hee hee!). it's hump day so enjoy the rest of your week, amigas! hasta viernes!
abrazos y amor,
bella

2011-09-10T21:54:00.002-06:00

well, actually, it's not a slip-up i was just too tired and/or tic'y to post yesterday.
anyway, ciao, amigas! how was your week?! my week was pretty eventful! here's how it went:
monday: online searching for miabella a bit. relaxed a bit. last day to have summer "girl time" with mills.
tuesday: school started! woo hoo! so nice to have time to myself during the day w/o being nagged! oh what a fabulously restful day it was...until she called home and said she had to come home because of a mistake on her registration card! agh!
wednesday: even better than tuesday, she attended school all day! later, in the evening, i took a look at a couple of tutorials on youtube and i learned how to make/create my own blog blinkies! so i stayed up until...
thursday: 0830 this morning working on it to get it just right! don't worry, nels already chewed me out about not getting rest/sleep. i just couldn't rest until i got the blinkie to blink the way i wanted it to. you will get to see the blinkie(on my sidebar) once i'm done working on my tutorials for opening day. so bolo for that. :-)
friday: called the shelter because, once again, i saw a cat online that favored miabella an awful lot and i wanted to see if it was her. no, it wasn't. so my eyes started raining. my eyes were raining quite a bit today because i had another dream that miabella made her miabooboo(maine coon) sound and jumped on the bed to lie next to me. but it was just a dream. i also called the other orange county shelter near our home to see if she was there and also to check on "cat doe". later in the evening, chatted on the phone with my aunt up north until...
saturday: like 0300ish this morning. fell asleep around 0400ish and was awakened at 0630 by mills' alarm for school. i fell back to sleep then i was startled awake by the sound of hail hitting the roof and windows really forcefully because of the wind. it was a beautiful sight to see but i wasn't so pleased to be awakened so early by it. nor was the startled awake panic attack pleasant. ;-) hee hee. it was a good wind, rain, hail, lightening, and thunderstorm for sure! i finally fell asleep again after 0830/0930 (it all ran together i was so tired). lol! i also received a phone call this morning that "cat doe" was still sick and i could either wait until the 14th when his meds would be done or i could adopt him w/take-home meds. once i awakened again, in the afternoon, i called and i was told he was ready for adoption and if i got there by 1600(4pm) i could adopt him today! so that's what i did! he comes home monday, after his neuter surgery is done. so, though we're still looking for and missing miabooboo, we have added to our pride by one. his name is no longer "cat doe". he will be known as ciaran-liam. yes, sticking to my scotch-irish roots and giving him a fitting irish name as he is a black cat. hee hee!
well, i hope you all will have a fabulous weekend and safe patriot day. we will observe a moment of silence for my uncle that died on united flight 93(my aunt natalie's brother). have a blessed rest of the weekend and thank you for stopping by and supporting my blog!

abrazos y amor,
bella

tgifacebook friday

2011-09-02T19:09:00.002-06:00

ciao, amigas! what a long busy week! omg! i'm worn out this week! here's how my week went:
monday~ we went to funeral services for my dear great-grandmother. o-m-g! the SPIRIT was so present, it took your breath away! it's an incredible feeling to feel the spirit so strong!
tuesday~i mostly sat around home and rested. i had a lot of tics and speech problems, so i just stayed around the bed today. i did make it out to the post office to mail some little things. twenchie may be pleasantly surprised when she opens her envelope. hee hee!

wednesday~i mailed some cards to a couple of my great-aunts. grandmother's passing really prompted me to get out of denial regarding the mortality of women in my family. i suppose since grandmother was well into a century old i took it for granted that we'd have five maybe even six generations of girls going for a long time. i still have four great-aunts to get cards out to. i'm also going to send cards to other family members. you know, there's no time like their living years to let the ones you love know that you do. grandmother's funeral snapped me out of my habit of procrastinating!
i tried to adopt my little kitten today but after everything was said and done, it didn't come home with me because it has a kitty version of kennel cough. oh and the funny story~all of this time, as i've been going over to the shelter to look for miabella in the kennels and on the "deceased list", i've been visiting with this little kitten and it's supposed to be a girl. rofl after i filled out my adoption paperwork i was allowed to wash my hands and go hold "her". well when i went to put "her" back into the kennel i noticed "she" was indeed a "he" if you catch my drift! rofl! so instead of naming her stella, as i'd hoped, i'll be naming him ciaran-liam. so i'll have conchobhar-versace(omg just realized i've been leaving off the "n" in conchobhar!) and ciaran-liam(he's a black kitten with gorgeous green eyes) :-) he looks a lot like the kitten pictured below:

thursday~ more bedrest. it's been a tic'y week hee hee! i am really worn out this week. it's like not only do the spasms hurt, they're tiring! but you know, it's like an earthquake, you just have to get into the doorjam and ride it out! that's how i always view my dystonic storms. i was able to sleep a lot today and really rest.

friday~ this morning i awakened to the sound of woody in our bamboo in the backyard. huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huhhhhhhh! yep a woodpecker was in our bamboo! he looked just like this:

just kidding! hee hee! he actually looked more like this:

had my breast mri early this afternoon. it wasn't as bad as i thought it was going to be. lynn and chris were very fabulous at making me feel as comfortable as possible. i was mainly concerned with getting too hot or too cold thereby setting off more dystonic tics but they kept me comfortable. i didn't need a sedative afterall! it was about 20 minutes or so~a far cry different than the one i had for 60+ mins at the huntsman. i have to admonish all of you to remember to perform your bse's and keep your mammogram appointments!

mills decided to put a red patch in my hair. she says it didn't have ammonia in it, but, omg!, it burned. she washed it out and put conditioner on it. we'll see how it turned out. i'll post pics once it's all dry.~like tomorrow hee hee!
over the weekend~going to rest and keep working in my studio. going with odie bear to his best friend's bbq and bowling birthday party on sunday. i hope my bowling arm will be up to par hee hee so i can have a great game hee hee! you'll be calling me "the dude" next week hee hee!

this is labor day weekend. it's the end of summer! please stay safe, amigas! enjoy your nice long weekend! happy back to school! yay! school starts tuesday for us! woo hoo! as always, thank you so much for stopping by and for your support!

abrazos y amor,
bella

farewell grandmother

2011-08-29T16:55:00.002-06:00

buenas tardes, amigas! i've just arrived home after spending the morning in los angeles. my great-grandmother was laid to rest today. 101 years old she looked ageless! she wore a beautiful pink suit(it was so nice to see her in my favorite color) and a gorgeous pink hat. she truly looked at peace and as if she had a slight smile on her face.
it was lovely to see my family but hard to see them all so wracked with sorrow. i may have become dehydrated with the shedding of my own countless tears. it was indeed a celebration but also a time to realize that we won't see her again until we cross to the other side of the veil.
we were blessed to have five generations of women/girls until 16 august 2011. "grandmother" was a beautiful and great matriarch! she was the epitome of a fine homemaker(she was to me as big martha was to martha!). she had 12 children and she never grew tired of being a fabulous mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and great-great-grandmother! i appreciate all she was to my life growing up and into my teenage years and the things she taught me(simply by observing her when i was knee-high to a grasshopper) that i've brought into adulthood and motherhood with my own child. it's a beautiful thing that she can be reunited with "granddaddy" after decades of being apart. he passed on when i was still in elementary school. theirs was a beautiful love story. i'm so happy they can embrace one another again and not be weary or faint but just together, reunited in HIS glorious presence.
i was really pleased that mills stood up and gave her remarks~yes, i know, i shouldn't have let my anxiety disorder keep me from doing the same but it did (:-/). she gave a special blurb about family and it was good to hear her say those things aloud.
below are a few photos we were blessed to have with grandmother back in 2002! have a great week amigas!

abrazos y amor,
bella

tgifacebook friday

2011-08-26T21:44:00.000-06:00

ciao amigas! how was your week? i hope it was fabulous! here's how mine went:
monday~searched for mia and placed a new craigslist ad to see if anyone has her or may have seen her.
tuesday~more searching for mia.
wednesday~ got up at the bc of dawn and went to see my new neurologist. he's waiting for my reports from utah to decide how he wants to handle my dystonia. you can support dmrf by purchasing a friend/loved one, one of their brand new faux leather journals or other gear. also had another mammogram this time on the right. looks like they want an mri. when we got home i was beyond sick with a migraine and tics. the weather/heat was atrocious! i searched for mia for a bit online then i zonked out on migraine meds.
thursday~in and out of bed with the same migraine and searching online for mia. once my migraine meds took later in the evening i worked on the "never-ending card" (netti's daughter, anne. her birthday is on sunday.
friday~still have the migraine. went to the shelter to search for mia. you're not even going to believe this but they had a silver tabby maine coon in there that they'd just picked up and the cat responded to me as mia would and i started to cry, i was so excited! then i ran outside and asked otis to come take a look at her and then we felt her paws and she had claws. i was beyond devastated. but thankfully, again, miabella wasn't listed on their "deceased list". i'm still working on my cards for this next week~condolence(for great-grandmother), baby shower(for cousin), and birthday(for dear sweet, anne).
have a super great weekend amigas! feliz fin de semana! thanks for stopping by! don't forget to join the giveaways if you haven't already!
abrazos y amor,
bella

slip-up saturday

2011-08-20T19:16:00.002-06:00

well, kind of. it's not exactly a slip-up. i have just been so depressed since i haven't been able to find miabella that i didn't really feel like posting a tgifacebook friday post yesterday. i truly hope you all are well, though!
monday~had a dr. appt. and searched online shelter websites for mia
tuesday~my beautiful great-grandmother, 101 yrs old, passed away. she was a lovely matriarch and great homemaker(household coo) and i admired her greatly for her commitment to motherhood and her fabulous cooking that i remember from when i was a little girl. i'll miss you, grandmother.

here we are with grandmother just after her 5th generation celebration in december 2002
i visited my local shelter to look for mia. thankfully she wasn't on the "deceased list" though she wasn't in any of the kennels there, either.
wednesday~just searched for mia online and everything.
thursday~took another trip to the shelter to look for mia. no luck. omg! i miss my sweet little girl so much! i had a dream that she was lying on my chest kneading me and purring. i was so sad when i awakened to realize it was just a dream. i cried so hard. lately it's about all i can do(lie in bed and cry~though i've made a commitment to myself to stop it and get back to work). i just miss her so much.
friday~more searching online for mia. had a mild dystonic storm(lost my speech and had severe spasms and tics all evening). thank goodness i awakened today in my normal state so i could look online for mia some more.
so that's about it, that's been my week this week. i'm still painting and working in my studio so it can be a lovely place to create~my fairystampin'mother headquarters lol!
feliz fin de semana, amigas! thank you for your support!
abrazos y amor,
bella

slip up saturday

2011-08-13T01:59:00.000-06:00

ciao, amigas! i hope you all had a great week! mine was very tiring and emotional. miabella being lost has been so devastating for me. but here's a recap of this week:
monday: discovered mia was lost. day 1 of my six day giveaway.

miabella my beautiful little girl.
tuesday: more looking for mia. went to the shelter and put up fliers. day 2 of the giveaways. met a fabulous new friend(more like an hermana). i call her twenchie! she's my long lost twin. hee hee! please check out her amazing blog the paper castle.
wednesday: more looking for mia. posted an ad on craigslist for miabella. day 3 of the giveaways.
thursday: still looking for mia. had to ask "helpful craigslisters" to please not email me unless they had mia as i'd get my hopes up each time i saw an email about my lost cat. day 4 of giveaways.
friday: went to the shelter again to look for mia. checked all shelters in our vicinity online, even the "deceased lists" to no avail. mia is still lost (:-```( and it's day 5 of giveaways. will continue to look for mia over the weekend and just keep hoping and praying she'll be back with me soon.
feliz fin de semana, amigas! thank you for supporting my blogs!
abrazos y amor,
bella

tgifacebook friday

2011-08-06T00:25:00.002-06:00

ciao amigas! another busy but lovely week! how about you all?!
well, i'll re-cap what happened this week:
monday~sitting on the edge of my seat to hear if my starter kit had shipped. hee hee!
tuesday~same as monday! lol!
wednesday~ yahoo buckaroo! my starter kit came! here's another look at me opening the box:

the e-collar came off and cochobhar-versace got his staples out. mills kept chanting "cochobhar's got a mangina! omg!older siblings can be so cruel(yes, her chant is a "stepbrothers" reference)! he also got a good dose of k-9 advantix II. there ain't no bugs, no bugs on him. hee hee~that commercial is stinkin' cute! he also got his backpack and i put two 1 liter water bottles in it so he can "do work, son" and focus better on walks and get used to carrying it so he'll be all set for it when he becomes a full on service dog. he looks so stinkin' cute in it. i'll get a pic this weekend and show you next week.
thursday~went out to the habitat for humanity (ocReStore). found a fabulous set of chests for 15 bucks! yes, fifteen bucks! so i'm still chugging away at getting fairystampinmother headquarters/my stampin' studio fixed up and all the boxes unpacked. everything in its place! ;-)
friday~more work in my stampin' studio. picked up some fabulous deals from the price club(costco nowadays i suppose).
this weekend will be more work on my stampin' studio(got some tsp the other day so i can paint all of my fabulous finds! don't worry, i'll get before and after pics). working on some stampin' projects and i will post information on the giveaways of next week! feliz fin de semana, amigas!
thank you for your support!
abrazos y amor,
bella

happy august!

2011-08-02T18:42:00.000-06:00

ciao, amigas! i hope you're enjoying your summer and having a fabulous august! i'm so stoked, my starter kit should be here tomorrow or thursday! yay! have a great week!

abrazos y amor,

bella

tgifacebook friday!

2011-07-29T23:32:00.000-06:00

ciao, amigas! how was your week?!
mine? it was fabulous! i rested a lot this week so i can continue to pace myself with getting my fairystampinmother headquarters, oka my stampin' and craftin' studio, all set up! so other than some tough boxing matches with allergies(bless the lord for benadryl otherwise i would have been tko'd hee hee) i've just been resting this week! still working on stretching and meditating daily also. but, there is a fabulous thing i have to report this week.....
i am a stampin' up! demonstrator now! yep, i joined today! i'm so stoked! i absolutely adore stampin' up! and i'm so happy to be a new demonstrator! so bolo for some things i plan to create when i receive my starter kit! i'm so excited and i just can't hide it!(yeah can't you hear the pointer sisters singing, too?! hee hee)
so that's about it, girlfriends! thanks for stopping by, amigas! have a fabulous weekend!
abrazos y amor,
bella

oops my mistake monday on tuesday

2011-07-26T14:40:00.000-06:00

ciao, amigas! how was your week!? mine was exhausting but oh so fabulous! let's recap what happened last week:

on monday~my dear hermanita arrived in the o.c. with emerson ("the little prince").

on tuesday~we had a visit with my dear sister and emerson.because she was pregnant with him the last time i was able to visit
california from utah, this was the first time i've visited with him
since he was born. being on a limited income i was just never able to come over from utah to see him after he was born. omg! he's even more beautiful in person! he's so funny and very articulate for a 3 year old. yes, i got pictures of us together!

                 ~cochobhar-versace turned five months old. guess what his birthday present was! he was neutered! lol! i know, i know, some present eh?! lol! well, it's for the best and as with all of my children i only want the best for him! lol!

there's a pic attached (he's so stinkin' cute and rockin' that elizabethan collar, don'tcha think? lol)

                 ~i had a visit with my own dr. and i was relieved that the problem i was having with my left arm was not related to my heart. simply a pinched nerve or cervical radiculopathy. he told me to carefully do some stretches. so i'm sure it'll be cured with a little yoga.
                 ~otis made the best chili dogs i've had thus far! omg! so yummylicious!

on wednesday~we spent the day with my sister and emE again. after a quick trip to the 99 cent store, we spent the day having fun in the shade at a park near my home. so much fun! emE is too funny! we were watching him play for a while and he met a few "friends" there(two jr. high girls and their little brother) my sister asked him if he wanted to go play on the tire swing. he immediately walked over to the picnic table where the other children were and asked the one girl(he was obviously sweet on her lol) "do you want to go ride the tire swing?" it was so stinkin' cute and funny! it was a truly lovely and fun day. once we arrived back at my house i let him choose all of the books he'd like from my collection. i think he loves books almost as much as i do! he got so excited when i let him have my copy of "if you give a mouse a cookie". my house was a goldmine for him because i still have hundreds of ece books from my days as an ece educator. i love when children's faces light up when they're given books!

on thursday~a total day of rest for and the day mills left with my sister to spend the weekend together in slo.

on friday~ohmmmm breathe inhale....exhale....ahhhh. i had a fabulous and relaxing massage from my most favorite massage therapist, jason miller, of community well massage. he works out of my fave spa~the loft on broadway. between the pinched nerve and the tension from my tics last week, i sooo needed that massage and you want to know the best part?! it was complimentary because i earned it as a customer reward for being a loyal client of the loft on broadway! i love that place! they treat me like family and tami has the most brilliant artists/stylist/estheticians/etc. working there!you may recognize them in long beach, california from a show on bravo~tabatha's salon takeover.

so, that's pretty much it! i had a lovely week. still working on my studio and unpacking all of my stuff and putting everything in its place. it's a process, piece by piece just like eating an elephant(though i don't think i'd want to actually eat one hee hee)! feliz fin de semana, amigas! thanks for stopping by!
abrazos y amor,
bella
p.s. this was my first typepad blog post through email. woohoo, i did!(i can hear dora cheering me on lol)

my mistake monday

2011-07-18T21:04:00.000-06:00

hee hee! i came up with that when i realized i neglected to post my facebook friday post.
i had a rather lovely week, last week! so let's re-cap what happened:

worked with cochobhar-versace on the commands~ "vaya dormir" where he goes in his kennel and stays until i ask him to come out and "espera" where he waits for me in my bedroom w/o whining when i leave to go to the kitchen for a drink. it's coming along very well. he's so smart! here's a pic of his cute little self. i call him "puppy chulo" rofl. doesn't it look like he's trying to give besos in this pic?! rofl. he's a loverboy! he loves attention from everyone!

monday, i decided i want a nook color instead of an ipad2. i mean other than a camera, the nook has just about everything an ipad2 w/wifi has! so that's on my wish list~the nook color with a pink cover of course! but i'm also thinking of using some of my stampin' up! fabric to sew one! i think it'd be sew fun and i think i could make something sew stinkin' cute!

friday, we had a lovely visit from mom. it was really nice to catch up. she taught me how to play mahjong on her little netbook. what a fun game! who knew?! i may be hooked, i'm looking to see if it's included in my vista games! we had fun hanging out and chatting while i prepared dinner. but alas, traffic died down and mom had to leave. we plan to get together again on the 29th. can't wait!
so, that's pretty much it. i rested most of the week because i had some mild tics early on in the week. thanks for stopping by and catching up with me!

abrazos y amor,
bella

happy 4th of july birthday! two celebrations, one card hee hee

2011-07-04T00:01:00.005-06:00

all mds images (c)stampin' up! 1988-2011
i just wanted to wish a very sweet sixteenth birthday to my lovely little baby, mills and a happy 235th to my dear country tis of me, sweet land of liberty! i'd also like to wish all of my family and amigas a very happy fourth of july! enjoy your holiday!
abrazos y amor,
bella

i took it ALL off

2011-07-03T16:19:00.000-06:00

hee hee it's about my new haircut. omg, it's buzzed off! ok, so i've finally taken a moment to show you a couple of pics of my new haircut. it's so freeing! omg! talk about a weight lifted off of my shoulders (hee hee i love being punny). yes, when i initially got my hair cut it was shoulder length. omg! you have no idea, i lost a lot of weight when i cut all of my hair off! it's so much better now because my headaches aren't as bad. it's like one never thinks about how much her hair weighs until she has a substantial amount cut off and then you feel lightheaded hee hee! it's so freeing(yes, i know, i've said it before but i had to say it again) and i love that i can just wear it curly or have mills flat iron it for me when i need it to be straight.it's great! and like i said, 'it's hair, it'll grow back!'
marinello rocks! muchas gracias, veronica! she was scared but i believe she did an excellent job! she couldn't believe i wanted so much cut off and the back totally buzzed. lol!

let me know what you think. thanks for stopping by!
abrazos y amor,
bella

atc's up the wazoo and got my mojo workin'

2011-06-24T14:50:00.002-06:00

hee hee(love johnny winter...got my mojo workin')
atc's up the wazoo! yep that's what i'm going to have for the next few weeks as i work on creating atc's to fill my new(well it's still new... eventhough i bought it last year hee hee) 7 gypsies atc printer's tray. i was thinking of spreading it out for twelve weeks. you know, like one atc per week, but then i decided to create two per week and make it around six weeks. hmm...well it all depends on my energy and if my mojo keeps workin' hee hee! i'm sure as long as i don't overdo it, i'll be fine and stay on schedule. in my excitement to get back into crafting i have to be mindful not to get ahead of myself and overwhelm myself and cause me to be stuck in bed tic'ing and spas'ing hee hee. i know because i've set myself back already a few times because of my being overzealous and crafting all day and night. but baby i'm back!
ok, so take a look at the first two:

i'm thinking the theme of this tray will be love, amor, amour, amoré! i believe these two are not too shabby (but pretty shabby chic hee hee)! please let me know what you think.
thanks for stopping by. i appreciate your support!
abrazos y amor,
bella

tgifacebook friday

2011-06-24T12:51:00.000-06:00

    thfif! ciao, amigas y familia! it's friday! yay! what a week!
ok, let's see what happened this week:
   omg! it was the final week of school for mills. she's a junior now! we celebrated by having pan pizza from pizza hut. it was yummylicious! oats and i created our own 3 topping pizza(pineapple, onions, and sausage) and mills opted for "just pepperoni". they still have that $10 any pizza carry-out deal. it was a lovely family dinner. but of course most of her dinner chatter revolved around her sweet sixteen on the fourth of july. yep, miss firecracker will be 16 on the 4th. omg! where does the time go?! she's so beautiful, i'm chuffed to bits to be her corny lil mum!
    this week i also worked on "acuestate' (lie down) with cochobhar-versace. he is still a little stubborn with it, but he's totally got it in spanish and english now. boy oh boy does he wish he was pack leader!
   i started working on a new six week project. well it may take less, it may take more, it depends. last year when i was out in salt lake for su! convention i stopped by heartland paper co. and bought an atc printer's tray. so i'm finally working on atc's to fill it. look for an upcoming post regarding this project. it'll more than likely be showcased on my yahoo group.
speaking of my yahoo group, working on getting that going. i finally have another camera after the unfortunate mishap with the one my dear cielodiamante gave to me last year. so i'll be creating kits and tutorials more often for the group. some for free, some for purchase. it's going to be a lovely shabby chic stampin' boutique once i get going. my lovely partner in that group, anna, will be working on the anna side of annabella's lol! she'll be on vacation for a while so i'll be getting things all spruced up so we can have our grand opening upon her return. i'll have a button on my blogs so you can click and join from them.
   also started working on some jewelry for my other venture with sanela. you'll learn more about that, as well, at a later date. it's going to be so fun! i'm totally excited to have two very lovely partners for some fun and creative ventures!
   had a very lovely father's day. just relaxed and rested, called all the dads i love/emailed them, as well as doted on oats. he said i made the day very special for him. so what more can one ask for? we all had a hand in dinner for the evening(i prepared 3-meat meatloaf, turmeric fried chicken tenderloins, and funeral potatoes.oats made the swiss chard and mills made a fruit salad as well as a green salad)totally yummylicious! we were all pretty well stuffed afterwards lol!

   this weekend i will be going through the storage stuff and either storing what won't be used for a while or putting things out for charity or a yard sale if i won't be using them ever. i'll be unpacking and getting my stamping and crafting studio all set up. but i'll take it easy. i've been having some dystonic tics this week, so i won't overdo it. slowly but surely, piece by piece, eh?
   oh, hee hee, so what exactly is facebook friday? well, it's where i'll take time to blog about my week so it can update my facebook. i want to let my friends and family know how much i love and miss them on a weekly basis and how things are going with us. so i came up with facebook friday. it'll also update my twitter so my friends/family that tweet but aren't on facebook can see how things are going and know i'm thinking of them as well. so that's about it.
    ok so what else happened this week? well, i took a blast to the past(i fell off the roof this week, so all i wanted to do was lie in bed and get over the pain incident to falling off the roof hee hee. bless the lord for multi-symptom pamprin)! got to see "jem" again on hub, "in living color" on sí tv(nuvo after 4 july 2011), and watched "totally 80's" on vh1(i soooo miss duran duran). i miss those days! the days of the cosby show, facts of life, the days when girls actually wore clothes in videos(and were still considered "hot" and "sexy"), musicians played real instruments, and all the concerts were worth the money! i suppose that's what nostalgia is for, eh? ah well...one can daydream about days of yesteryear. i guess that's why i love "robot chicken" much!

   i hope you all will have an enjoyable weekend. i truly appreciate your support and thanks for stopping by!
abrazos y amor,
bella

i know it's a little late but...

2011-06-10T18:34:00.002-06:00

happy mother's day! lol, yeah i know, it's like almost father's day! hee hee! well unfortunately shortly after mother's day i got caught in the eye of my most recent dystonic storm so i wasn't able to start blogging again around that time(bless heavenly father i came out of it today).

i did have a rather fabulous mother's day though! it started off with a lovely breakfast in bed. i was treated to my favorite french toast with lots of butter and syrup and delicious and crispy bacon. mills made me a sweet card. i was very pleasantly surprised by the all of the lovely things that occurred at the beginning of my sixteenth mother's day. in the evening i went down to micky spillane's mike hammer's old hangout the redwood bar and grill

in los angeles to enjoy a night of interesting cuisine(a grilled cheese with avocado, caramelized onions, and arugula accompanied by sweet potato french fries and a deliciously sweet version of fry sauce~interesting but fab-u-lous!) and kick arse music!

i saw the billy bones! i'm really keen on the sax player. omg is he hot(lol, yeah, ok well yes bad otis is my main squeeze hee hee)! i'm partial to hearing him play but don't get me wrong all of the guys are equally talented and just fabulous musicians! they're all so kind to me and have welcomed me into the billy bones family and billy is just the greatest guy!

then after that fabulous set we saw the sweet little guys of prima donna. talk about sweet boys they are just so nice. very great music, too!

then we caught a couple of songs of eddie and the hotrods' set (they were the headliner). they were brilliant as well!

so it was a fabulous end to a very lovely day! but boy oh boy did i have trouble trying to hear the next day lol! it was worth it though, all the bands put on brilliant shows ! i hope your mother's day was equally as fabulous! t hanks for stopping by. see ya on father's day!
abrazos y amor,
bella

it's a new dawn, it's a new day...and i'm feelin' gooood!

2011-06-04T12:24:00.011-06:00

yes, i totally can hear nina simone, muse, and jennifer hudson's renditions in my head! i'm feeling good!
ok, well technically i'm in a dystonic storm and i have a migraine but aside from those small technicalities, i'm feeling great! there have been so many wonderful new things to enhance my life over the past year!
i have a new blog(the Original Creative fairystampin'mother). i'm going to be actively working on it once i join stampin' up! again.
i have a new baby! his name is cochobhar-versace(connor-versace). he's my new red merle miniature australian shepherd i adopted from hillman's aussies in idaho. he will eventually be my service dog! he's a hoot and a howl(er)(especially during crate training rofl!) and i just adore him!

i also have another new man in my life but you can learn about him later. he's fabulous and i just love and adore him, too!
i know, it's been a long hiatus for me from the web, crafting, stamping, anything. i've struggled a lot with my dystonia over the past year but i'm excited and happy that i have overcome so much from my move from utah back home to california to my divorce and everything in between!
i live in orange county, california now so it totally rocks to be near the ocean again! i certainly missed that part of san diego when we moved out to utah over a decade ago! that's the part of my california heritage i have never lost! the great salt lake was lovely but i looooove the ocean! soon we'll be taking cochobhar-versace to the beach but i've been waiting because he hasn't finished his series of puppy shots. you all know how deeply saddened i was by the death of my dear carmelita, through parvo, last year. so i am taking no risks with cochobhar-versace. i love my neighborhood, it's so calm and lovely. we have fabulous neighbors but i have to admit, i miss my friends and family in utah terribly. it was good to see them in april when we drove up to pick up cochobhar-versace. it was too short of a visit, though.
so as energy and strength allow me, i'll be around. slowly but surely i'll be working on stuff and posting. i've missed you all terribly! happy new year!
abrazos y amor,
bella

Mira

2009-03-29T14:56:00.004-06:00

ciao all! i've been dying to share the pics of my cards from the swap with my french ustamp sister(stef) but i had another dystonia episode that lasted eons longer than i thought it would! these are pics of stef's lovely work! To see more pics take a look at bella's petits gateaux! have a great week!
abrazos y amor, bella

i took the challenge

2009-03-08T01:13:00.004-07:00

there's a demo challenge on splitcoast every friday. it's for demonstratable 3-d projects and there are some great projects! i truly love the projects, but up until now, i just haven't had the energy to participate~well, this week i took the challenge and created this little envelope scrapbook that was originally created by paula goff on her lovely blog inking addict . take a look at bella's petits gateaux to learn more. thanks for looking!
abrazos y amor,
bella

join my team(3 easy payments)!

2009-03-06T19:19:00.004-07:00

i cannot even believe how understanding stampin'up! is about the present state of our economy. they've just informed us that, before sale-a-bration ends, there will be an option to join stampin' up! with three easy payments. you will pay your first installment payment and receive your starter kit to get started with your stampin' up! business and then you will be billed two other times to finish paying it off! isn't that fabulous?! i'm grateful for the extra money i've earned to help us pay for cat food here, dog food there, litter, gas, utility bills, or a gallon of milk when we've needed it. if you'd like to join my team, please leave me a message on this post and i'll contact you to help you get started! also, until 31 march 2009 you can also join stampin' up! for 15% off~you will be able to choose any stamp set from the spring/summer 2009 idea book and catalog(up to $47.95 value) with your starter kit and you will also receive one pack of watercolor wonder crayons from me( just let me know, after you've signed up, which color group you'd like)!

finally!

2009-03-06T19:01:00.004-07:00

i've been in the worst creative slump since i started feeling better! you may recall the two cards i couldn't finish. well, i've finally finished one! woo!hoo! i don't think it's my best work ever, but it's still rather lovely. i have more information about it at bella's petits gateaux. please let me know what you think!
abrazos y amor,
bella

snow dog

2009-02-21T05:12:00.004-07:00

if worst comes to worst, i know de niro can pull me on a sled in the snow! lol! he's such a little snow dog~he eats it, runs in it, fetches in it(he has an incredible sense of smell)! he'd make an awesome little iditarod dog! i snapped these pics of him the other day when we had a lovely snowstorm~the flakes were huge and oh so pretty! i'm excited punxsutawney phil saw his shadow and we get six more weeks of winter! i love the snow! see de niro smiling?! he's happy, too!

wow! this was neat

2009-02-18T11:29:00.001-07:00

Take the Quiz here!

you're on my mind

2009-02-14T22:47:00.002-07:00

ciao all! happy valentine's day! here's a pic of the latest card i posted at bella's petit gateaux. let me know what you think! thanks for looking!
abrazos y amor,
bella

maybe you have an opinion?

2009-02-11T13:16:00.002-07:00

well, i've been working on a couple of cards for the past few days. i'm stumped on how to finish them. will you take a look at bella's petit gateaux and tell me what you think? thanks!
abrazos y amor,
bella

whew!

2009-02-08T17:46:00.003-07:00

that didn't take nearly as much blood, sweat, and tears as i thought it would! lol! i finished my tutorial for my bella box and i've posted it on bella's petit gateaux. i was extremely nervous, but i did it!(i feel like singing the "you did it!" song with dora and backpack now! lol!)
please take a look and let me know what you think! thanks!
abrazos y amor,
bella

bag-a-lert, err...i mean bag-a-lope

2009-02-07T15:39:00.002-07:00

on monday i will be posting about this little bag-a-lope i created. you'll want to go to bella's petit gateaux to take a look. have a fabulous weekend!
abrazos y amor,
bella

you're not even going to believe this!

2009-02-07T02:59:00.003-07:00

i actually have created a tutorial! yes, waaay! i totally have! go to bella's petit gateaux to find out more!
abrazos,
bella

you're not going to believe it...

2009-02-07T01:16:00.005-07:00

'cause i didn't, either! go to bella's petit gateaux and look at what i made!
don't forget to leave a post on there letting me know what you think.
abrazos,
bella

I'm the bag lady, again!

2009-02-06T22:41:00.004-07:00

i made another cute little bag. take a look at bella's petit gateaux
let me know what you think. thanks!
abrazos y amor,
bella

posting alert

2009-02-04T14:43:00.002-07:00

ciao all, i just wanted to let you know that i'll be posting mostly at bella's petit gateaux and posting a link to the posts, there, here. it's just easier for me, at this time, to post a full message to one blog. i hope you all can understand and take a look over there. eventually, i think i'll be phasing out this blog. thanks for your support.
abrazos y amor,
bella

love somebunny,yes,i do!

2009-02-04T14:40:00.003-07:00

here's an idea i'm working on for valentine's day for my bunny. i think he'll love this card!
abrazos,
~bella

thankful

2009-02-03T19:01:00.001-07:00

oh, yes, i'm truly thankful! i have a wonderful husband who takes care of me when i'm totally incapacitated. to read more about how thankful i am take a look at bella's petit gateaux.
abrazos,
bella

woo hoo steelers!

2009-02-01T20:42:00.002-07:00

here's what i said about the superbowl on bella's petit gateaux
abrazos,
bella

i'm here...i didn't flunk out! lol!

2009-01-31T15:18:00.001-07:00

it's been a rough past few months, but i'm back! take a look at bella's petit gateaux to find out more. i've missed you all! Happy New Year!
abrazos y amor
bella

more from the bag lady

2008-11-03T16:39:00.002-07:00

i've been at it~like intensely~working to come up with my tutorial for my little bags. it's coming soon to bella's petit gateaux. i'm still working on it, but here's a quick pic!
abrazos, bella

can't we all just get along?

2008-10-31T23:07:00.005-06:00

well, i've been thinking of the upcoming presidential election next week(happy halloween, by the way)and because of the race issues that have been highly publicized lately, i've had flashbacks of the press conference with rodney king and reginald denney all those years ago after the riots in south central los angeles where the phrase "can't we all just get along..." was coined from~ reminding us~ white and black, police officer and civilian, to be tolerant of each other and just peacefully coexist.
so when i saw these two(berliose and de niro) sleeping so peacefully together, i snapped a picture. i thought it was the perfect example of tolerance and how to get along(and they're two different species! berliose was asleep but he was purring so loudly and de niro was just so sweet and loving with him and ended up falling asleep too. out of all of the kittens berliose loves de niro the best(toulouse isn't far behind. marie, on the other hand, is simply not interested in getting along with de niro. which is also a fact of life~some will just not get along well with others).

so with that said, i hope you all will get out there and vote and remember what a momentous occasion this is for our dear united states of america! no matter who you vote for~the point is for us all to "just get along" and rebuild our nation! we don't have to be better than anyone else but ourselves~as the army slogan says "be all you can be..." and if we all try i'm sure we can "aim high" and achieve peace!
have a great weekend and don't forget to "fall back" on sunday morning!
abrazos,bella

boxing again!

2008-10-30T23:35:00.002-06:00

here's a little halloween box i created with the template from stamping with sheryl.
why do i love it?! it's so easy to create, there's no adhesive involved, and i love that it's a slider box!
please let me know what you think!
thanks for looking!
abrazos,
bella
recipe~
paper: ghostly greetings dsp, very vanilla cs
inks: basic black
accessories: black and pumpkin pie 1/4" grosgrain, chills and thrills rub-ons

happy halloween

2008-10-29T23:59:00.004-06:00

i'm so excited to see the little ones getting so big! i think they look adorable in their little ribbons. the longer we have them the sadder i get because i know when the day comes i really won't want them to go!
tomorrow night i'll be going to my dear( sweet niece) skyy's first stampin' up! workshop! i'm so excited she joined my team~she's an amazing person and paper crafter! it's so nice to have found something we can grow closer with~i mean she's like so freakin' beautiful but down-to-earth and really, really fun! she's just totally all around lovely!( i think i told you all how i pushed my anxiety and agoraphobia to go down to las vegas for their wedding~it was beautiful and totally worth the panic attacks~sometimes i guess being supportive of your family overpowers your fears) and i totally had no idea she was a stampoholic/scrapoholic like me! it's so fun when we get together and now we can get together to help each other with our su! business endeavors too! ok, so i'm excited she invited me to her halloween party/su! open house! i'm going as a baby. i have no idea how long it goes for, so... i may post late tomorrow!
well, anyway, here's the kittens at 9 weeks old in "trick or treat" ribbons!
thanks for looking!
abrazos,
bella

dagnabbit! back to the drawing board

2008-10-28T21:16:00.003-06:00

well... i was trying to make a lovely bella rose dsp coffin for all of you twilight fans, but it was a horrible attempt! i got the template from my dear friend martha from one of her halloween shows.
well, i'm going try it again but with the large template and i'll post it later on this week. let me know what you think if you can type through your laughter! lol!
abrazos, bella

i did it!

2008-10-27T21:39:00.003-06:00

ok, i'm like totally stoked because i made one of the pinwheels from the small tag punch! i cannot believe it's so lovely(well, to me, anyway)! i learned how to create one of these nostalgic treasures, with the small/large tag punch, from a tutorial on splitcoast in the stampin' stuff forum. i have to get the lovely authoress' link so i can send you all over there to take a look at it. yes, ctmh'rs that is a baby pink edge anchor! :0)
please let me know what you think!
abrazos, bella

we were boo'd

2008-10-26T14:00:00.007-06:00

well, i was kind of upset(well, you know, bummed) because i wanted to "boo" our neighbors before we got boo'd but one of my neighbors beat me to it(darn lack of energy!)! we received a delic' plate of halloween m & m laden marshmallow krispie treats. mmmm...that is all i could say along with millE as we devoured the entire plate shortly after discovering them on the porch. we were given a day's turnaround for our boo'ing, so i grabbed the car keys and drove right over to albertsons to get a few bags of candy and some halloween novelty toys and came back home and created three little "boo bags" for the three neighbors we decided we'd "boo".

these are two of the projects i did. i don't have a pic of the third but i'll have a tutorial(yes, i said tutorial) on the third project~ a handmade bag i created from my own little idea/calculation(so stay tuned for that)!

please let me know what you think! the first project is a "box in a bag" i learned how to make from the "inking addict" blog(fab stuff, please check her out!) the second project is a "genie bag" i learned how to make those on splitcoast and at convention this year. . thanks for looking!
abrazos,bella

oh nooo! millE is going to clobber me if i don't mention that she did the random stamping on the genie bag!

ay dios mio!

2008-10-26T13:29:00.003-06:00

i cannot believe i haven't posted in soooo long(twenty days is a long time for me on this blog~i have to get bloggy with it again!)! mostly i've just been so tired and had a lack of energy to get bloggy with it. lo siento. maybe some of you missed me?! lol! well, i've done a couple of things since i've been offline but i have lots more i need to get done. i think i'm going to have to blog mondays through thursdays and break for the weekends and then i won't feel so guilty when i'm unable to chat with you all for a while because i'm too tired to blog every single day. i think that plan may work better for me and if i have the energy i can still blog on the weekends but it won't be expected. yep, that works for me! what about you?! lol!
well...i hope you all have seen my new quotes for breast cancer awareness(you know how close to my heart this is since i still have that lump in my left breast) and halloween(bunny and sanela's "valentine's day")there are some nice ones i found. thanks for reading and being a fan~stay tuned for more posts!
abrazos, bella

one of my hobby lobby projects

2008-10-05T23:48:00.003-06:00

here are pics of one of my 6x6 to 12x12(progressive scrapbooking) layouts. i think that's the neatest thing~from 6x6 to 8.5x11 to 12x12! it's something for everyone!~well, except 8x8 or 9x9 scrappers ;0)
thanks for looking! please let me know what you think!
abrazos, bella

ya talkin' to me?!

2008-10-04T21:45:00.002-06:00

here are the pics i promised of our new baby de niro! his eyes are so pretty~they're hazel and blue! he's a good boy. i just adore him. he's a sweet, sweet baby. thanks for looking.
abrazos,
bella

yes, i've been boxing again!

2008-10-04T21:10:00.006-06:00

i'd been dying to find a box i could create from one sheet of paper and it would hold a good amount of standard size cards and then i found an awesome box on splitcoaststampers . unfortunately, i do not remember the blog i found the measurements on~but i will look that up and add it to the post at a later date. i made this box the week before my bum test. i believe it will hold at least five cards with envelopes. please let me know what you think. thanks for looking!
abrazos,
bella

amendment 1: yea! i found the blog in my bookmarks. i knew i had it, it was just getting through the hundreds of blogs and bookmarks i have! the blog belongs to kelli caslow and it's titled yard sale kind of luck ! you will find the template and her box she created if you hit the link!
abrazos,
bella

amendment 2: here's the recipe~

paper~ pink pirouette cs, bella rose dsp, whisper white cs
stamps~ dreams du jour, inspired by nature
inks~ versamark, chocolate chip, regal rose, pretty in pink
accessories~ styled silver hodgepodge ribbon slide, regal rose grosgrain ribbon
tools~scallop border punch
techniques~watermark, scissors distressing, blending pens

profiteroles

2008-10-04T21:02:00.002-06:00

don't they look like little fluffy cream puffs? here are the "4 week old" pics of marie, toulouse and berliose. they're so big now! i have to get 5 week old photos! i'll be sad when they find their new forever homes :0( ! they're climbing up everything and just little explorers when it comes to my patisserie. i caught them nursing on their mom on top of my cardstock scraps! they climb out of their little enclosure and roam my scraproom! they're so stinkin' cute, though, i can't help but smile when i find them outside their little room.

ay! ay! ay! please forgive me!

2008-10-03T21:27:00.004-06:00

oh my...i'm truly apologetic that i have been unable to keep up with you all the past couple of weeks. not to sound punny but that colonoscopy took a lot out of me! i really got very ill~the migraine i was already dealing with from the egd just got worse with the prep for the colonoscopy and i ended up having a dystonia episode in the recovery room~so...i'm finally getting to feeling much better.
so much has happened since then too! we have a new puppy de niro "blue" he's the most gorgeous blue merle aussie i've ever seen(well, maybe i'm biased because i just adore him). we'd lost abbey and that was hard on me. i won't go into the details of that, but i'm happy to have de niro. how did i arrive at that name? well, he's so gorgeous~like robert de niro so i named him de niro *cheese* !
the kittens are like sooo big~they're eating solid food now and just so friendly and sweet. working on kitter box training too! memphis and bizhan are teaching them.
i was supposed to teach my first class at hobby lobby today, but i didn't have anyone signed up(whew! i wasn't feeling well this morning). i'm excited to get to do that. it should be good for me.
ok, so that's a little bit of why i've been MIA. but i'm back now. i'll be on tomorrow to show you pics of the kittens and some other projects i was working on before the week of my bum test. i hope you all are doing just great and that your september was fabulous! i've truly missed you all! i know, i have got to get caught up on my blog visitations! ttfn!
abrazos,
bella

marie, toulouse, and berliose

2008-09-17T22:34:00.006-06:00

these are pics of the babies at three weeks old! look at the blue-eyed ones!

lo siento

2008-09-17T22:34:00.002-06:00

sorry all! it's been a crazy week(i know, and it's barely half over!). i did manage to post on my fairy stampin' mother blog for the blog candy contest but i didn't get to get it all decorated, so i don't have pics of the prize yet~so tune in over there for a pic of that on friday.
tomorrow is my colonoscopy, so today has been a very hard day with preparing for that.
i did manage to get pics of the little ones. so look to the post above this one.
i'll be back on friday once i sleep off the anesthesia. have a great thursday!
abrazos,
bella

mi flora es

2008-09-13T13:49:00.001-06:00

I am a
Snapdragon

What Flower
Are You?

coming soon...

2008-09-12T17:28:00.002-06:00

to a fairy stampin' mother blog near you~ blog candy! tune in monday for more information on that blog candy contest on my fairy stampin' mother blog.

also, i won't be posting over the weekend. i'll just be visiting su! and ctmh sister blogs~i've gotten behind on that and i want to check up on all of them! whatever i make over the weekend, i'll post on monday!
feliz fin de semana

abrazos,
bella

102 minutes that changed america

2008-09-12T11:01:00.004-06:00

yes, i was up late again last night! i couldn't sleep because too many awesome things were on t.v. i totally had to watch them because i missed them earlier in the day.
well, before i drifted off to sleep(after watching the replay of oprah) i watched a documentary on the history channel called "102 minutes that changed america". it was really deep and heartbreaking. it's like you can't help but cry as you watch your brothers and sisters deeply engulfed in a major tragedy and you can't turn away from watching everything unfold though you're helpless to help. it's like watching "the titanic", though you know the outcome, you totally keep hoping and praying everyone will be saved.
one thing that was remarkable in my mind as i watched the firefighters preparing to go into the second tower after the first one had fallen(my eyes couldn't help welling up with tears as i looked at their beautiful velvety black uniforms with the yellow striping and neon yellow reflector stripe patches) i thought they just looked like superheroes in black uniforms marching off to save the day~no one could have expected they'd be going in too late and the next tower would be collapsing within minutes/seconds. then as i watched the firefighters that were able to make it out after that tower fell,(huffing for air and needing water because of the gray billowing smoke~and still their then gray ashen uniforms were still beautiful to me), i cried so hard as they were just in shock knowing they just came out without some of their brothers. i don't think one ever wants to witness a person "go crazy" right before their eyes and i saw some "civilians" do just that as others were running away from the huge cloud of gray smoke, glass, and other debris. i hope we won't ever experience anything like that ever again.
sometimes i've pondered why certain stations air documentaries on the tragedy year after year since it occurred and last night it hit me that it's because we need to be mindful of it~every year so that we can stay awake and do our best to prevent that from happening to us ever again. i've heard it said that 'if you don't remember your history you leave yourself open to make the same horrible mistakes over and over again'. we should never be so vulnerable and caught off guard again.
i have a very multi-cultured family so i have christian, jewish, muslim, agnostic, buddhist and maybe even atheist relatives/friends~but the one thing we all live in is tolerance of our differences. it saddened me that so many people attacked people of the muslim faith after 9/11 because what type of mentality does that breed? we should know that not everyone that has that faith believes in the jihad in such an extreme way. i do not believe it helps to fight hate with more hate. so, i hope as we're cautious in our neighborhoods, cities, states and in this country we will not breed more hate and lose the ability to be tolerant because i was always taught that's what this country was initially built on~tolerance, freedom from monarchy, equality, and safety from persecutions of one's beliefs.
i hope you all will have a lovely weekend and remember our troops in your prayers/thoughts/meditations. no matter how you feel about the war, they still need us to be pulling for their safe return home!
thanks for reading!
abrazos,
bella

i'm a little bit country/i'm a little bit rock 'n' roll(with stamps!)

2008-09-12T09:12:00.003-06:00

guess what! stampin' up! has teamed up with country living magazine to offer customers a fabulous deal! you can get a great subscription to country living magazine and also purchase a fabulous stamp set from stampin' up! exclusive to country living magazine readers/subscribers! take a look at the offer for country living magazine ! it's guaranteed to please!
abrazos,
bella

buenas noches

2008-09-11T19:46:00.002-06:00

ok, i don't think i told you all that i'm taking a free spanish course online. yes, that's what i said ~free! it is so awesome, too! i'm learning soooo much! it's fabulous! my family will have to get off of my case about my spanglish because i'll be closer to fluency with my spanish.
hmmm...maybe i should've taken spanish along with my french in high school but i mean come on, when you live/grow up right by mexico(san diego) that's not where you desire to visit~i wanted to go to paris(i did and i loved it)! so i had no desire, at that time, to learn spanish. i know tsk, tsk! well, i'm making up for it now, i'm learning proper spanish very well! ok, so you have to visit the site, spanish dict. and sign up~even if you're a fluent spanish speaker because it totally rocks~like the entire community and the resources! if you check it out, let me know what you think!
gracias amigo/as!
abrazos,
bella

do you remember? where were you? what were you doing?

2008-09-11T15:57:00.003-06:00

today is september 11th. i've been watching documentaries on the tragedy this morning and i've been reflecting on how it personally touched my family. my uncle harry's ex-wife(though they were still married at the time and she was still my "aunt" back then) lost her brother on the united flight from boston. i won't go into everything. i just wanted to take a moment of silence to pray/meditate/think about what happened to so many of our brothers and sisters 7 years ago. i mean in the grand scheme of things we are all related in this vast human family, worldwide! thank you for your participation in this moment with me.
have a lovely afternoon!
see you this evening, hopefully!
abrazos,
bella

now i'm a bag lady

2008-09-11T15:29:00.005-06:00

if you thought my boxing was a phase~now i'm into bags! this is a pic of the little bag i made last night. i was googling handmade bags and i found this bag on lisa somerville's awesome little blog. you should take a look, she's very artistic!
so this is my tiny rendition of hers. i didn't use a box inside mine. i was stubborn and tried to create my own template because i want to recreate them w/o using a box.
ahh...takes me back to my days of collecting designer bags every time we went shopping in beverly hills when i was younger. now i'm making my own designer (series paper) bags!
ok, as usual let me know what you think!
hasta luego
abrazos,
bella

yea! woo hoo! sharing what i love 24/7 now!

2008-09-10T11:45:00.003-06:00

my online ordering function is active on my website now! i'm so stoked! i was sad when we found out we'd have to wait until further kinks were worked out with it and only the catalog in pdf would be available on our websites but now i'm ecstatic! if you take a look at my website fairy stampin' mother please let me know if there's anything i need to do to improve it! grazie mille amigo/as! abrazos, bella

eyes wide shut!

2008-09-10T11:14:00.003-06:00

darnit! wouldn't you know i try to get a good shot of "duchess and the kittens" with their eyes open and the flash totally robs me of that?! well, i did manage to get one pic of toulouse with his eyes open(marie opened hers first then he did~they were a pretty close tie. berliose is still trying to get his all the way open)! they're getting so big! it's so nice to see their little eyes open too~i think marie's may be blue! i love the pic of the wcwf where toulouse is wrestling berliose! toulouse is so freakin' bossy!
and guess who's been playing baby-tender?! bizhan! yes, i caught "chewy" down there babysitting while memphis was upstairs going to the ladies room and grabbing a bite to eat. he has been watching them for her when she wants a break. it's so cute because he preens them and keeps them in their little rubbermaid nursery bin. i think he thinks he may be their papa but i'm pretty sure, though not to judge books by their covers, maury would say "bizhan!...you are not the father!" rofl!
ahh, i'm so happy...my little pride is getting along well.
miabella still doesn't quite know what to think seeing the kittens nursing on memphis. i think she was wondering where memphis was, for the longest time, and then when she finally found her and the kittens it freaked her out! lol!
well, here are the the shots of the triplets at two weeks old(today!) thanks for looking!
abrazos,
bella

para mi hermanita

2008-09-10T10:27:00.008-06:00

ciao all! good morning/buenos dias! i was down in my patisserie last night! this is a little cupcake of a card that i created for my sister~i feel it's more of an "i'm here for you" card more so than a "sympathy" card. i had bunny mail it for me this morning. i hope she likes it. i'm hoping she will get a smile from it and not laugh hysterically at my attempt escribir en espanol solomente.
please let me know what you think, as well.
here's the recipe:
paper: cs~pink pirouette(new in color), very vanilla, basic gray
inks: pretty in pink, regal rose
stamps: tender toile, serena primavera
accessories: styled silver hodgepodge hardware ribbon slide, pink piroutte striped grosgrain ribbon, pretty in pink stampin' pastels
tools: scallop border punch, snail, glue dots
technique: paper tearing/folding, chalk distressing, rock 'n' roll inking

thanks for looking!
abrazos,
bella

rrrippp!

2008-09-09T19:18:00.006-06:00

well, not exactly, but this is my first attempt at the faux tearing technique.
here's the recipe:
stamps: serenity, upsy daisy(sentiment)
paper: cs~ barely banana, very vanilla
inks: so saffron, versamarker
accessories: very vanilla 5/8 grosgrain
tools: scallop border punch, stampin' pastels(so saffron)
technique: faux tearing, chalk distressing

let me know what you think! thanks for looking!
abrazos,
bella

my first card front swap!

2008-09-09T18:55:00.008-06:00

whew! was i stressed trying to get these done and mailed by saturday afternoon before the post office closed!
well, first off, "my boyfriend's brown truck" didn't arrive until late thursday afternoon(maybe that's why he delivered my backordered stamp set early the next morning :0)
and then i just couldn't find a time, with training abbey and supervising the cats and millE's virtual school, to get down to my patisserie and get them all done on thursday evening.
so friday i started them and finished bustin' them out on saturday morning. i had a bit of a creative block for a moment then i remembered it just had to be simple and easy to demonstrate and use the "say it with scallops" set and in colors. so i think i did a pretty good job. i also made them in black, but i didn't get a pic before rushing to the post office. let me know what you think!
here's the recipe:
paper: cs~baja breeze, very vanilla, and whisper white
ribbon: baja breeze double-stitched grosgrain
inks: baja breeze
technique: paper tearing/folding
stamps: say it with scallops, upsy daisy(sentiment)
tools: scallop border punch, scallop square punch, stampin' dimensionals
grazie mille!
abrazos,
bella

last two cropping chicks-ut swaps

2008-09-09T18:32:00.006-06:00

ciao all! sorry it has been a while! i wasn't able to get on and post like i wanted to last week. i'm finally able to post for you the last set of swaps that i received in the cropping chicks-ut card swap i hosted last month. i'm glad that's over! whew! how exhausting! it can be stressful hosting swaps when ladies don't come through when they're supposed to.
i'll tell you it was really heartbreaking to me to find out that when i did the ctmh atc swap, last month, that the hostess (tiffany) had to fill like four spots! i think that's totally ridiculous! true, "life happens" to a person, but when you procrastinate that's when you leave yourself open for murphy's law! it's great when you can find an angel to fill the spot(s) you're missing! it's just not fair, in my book, to the hostess when you can't~but what do i know? i've only been a hostess once! lol! well, let me get off of that soap box! lol!
thanks for taking a look!
abrazos,
bella

oh my heck! i just realized the top card is a flower~i have it standing the wrong way! aye aye aye! my blond roots! lol! i'm sure carlos mencia is somewhere going "ddd bella!"

lovely day

2008-09-04T20:52:00.006-06:00

ahh...what a refreshing day. i spent the morning and afternoon with my sweet niece skyy. she's so beautiful and lovely. it was fun to spend time with her, meet her chinchillas(oh my heck, they're so stinkin' cute!), see her darling home, and look at her awesome scrap area! you have got to see her bad arse cd sleeves! she even has a tutorial posted on her darling blog!

"my boyfriend" pulled up in his big brown truck today! so i have lots of stampin'up! goodies to open, open, open! woo hoo!

tonight, i've got to bust out six swaps tonight so i can get them mailed out tomorrow so they'll be to our fine hostess' home by tuesday. i'm excited to join our unit swap this month. even more so now that i have new su! products and not just my retired stuff i acquired when i joined at the end of may lol!
so, i will post a pic of those and the rest of the cards from my cropping chicks-ut card swap.

hasta manana(i'm such a bad influence with my spanglish that millE says "hoss tuh muh nay nay" i'm like "no honey it's, ahstuh man yawna"rofl!)!
ok, buenos noches amigas y hermanas!

abrazos,
bella

abbey's first...

2008-09-03T21:36:00.003-06:00

shots! she got them today! bunny said she did well. i didn't go in, i didn't want to see her cry if she was going to. lol! she's been very whiny the past couple of days, so i don't know what that's about. i hope it wasn't the worms. i noticed some in her fecal matter as i was cleaning it up the night before last. thank goodness she got de-wormed today! she is doing well though after the shots! she took a loooong nap when we got home from the vet's! lol! just like a human baby after shots~hee hee! you all remember those days! they don't have puppy tylenol though, lol!
ok, i have to get to bed. hasta manana!
abrazos,
bella

manny, moe, and jack~at one week

2008-09-03T21:20:00.004-06:00

oh my goodness, i cannot believe how big they're getting! they nurse a lot so i'm sure that has a lot to do with it! lol! here are the pics of memphis and her darling little kittens on their one week old birthday! maybe i should call her duchess and the kittens marie, toulouse, and berliose lol!
i love that movie~the aristocats! ah that's the best! "everybody! everybody!everybody wants to be a cat. 'cause a cat's the only cat who knows where it's at!" ok, i'll be back tomorrow!
buenos noches!
abrazos,
bella
p.s. yes, i know, i took a lottt of pictures(that's not even all of them!). i'm a proud abuelita! what can i say?
:0)

it's a girl~her name is abigail/abbey

2008-09-02T15:44:00.004-06:00

i know you're asking "who's abigail/abbey?! was bella pregnant and i didn't know it?"
uh, no! i haven't been pregnant in like 13/14 years lol!
abigail/abbey is our new puppy! bunny got her for me so we can train her to be a service dog. i've been having more trouble with my dystonia so i told bunny i wanted to have a service dog that we trained so it would be able to help me when i'm having an attack if no one else was home. so we went onto ksl and found her.
she is so stinkin' cute! i love her to pieces! ok, so what kind of puppy is she? she's blue heeler and australian shepherd. i think she's also border collie. you cannot look at her face and not smile, she is just so sweet! i've been working with her on basic obedience so we can train her to help me after that. she's good with "sit" in english and spanish, "come/ven conmigo" and "wait/espera" we're working on name recognition(yes, i know, kind of out of order with her knowing sit before her own name lol!). we've been trying to train her to use the litter box(the doggy kind) but she's not big on going in the house she goes to the back door and whines to go outside. we were like in awe when she started whining to go out and we hadn't even taught her that!
she's a good girl. i've been going out for walks with her (with the exception of this morning, i was just too worn out) around 5/6. it has been so fun and she does better off of the lead than on but she's getting better with that. i'd been teaching her without a lead but bunny got all "no buddha, we need to get a leash..."on me so i've been working with her on a lead. she's so stinkin' smart! yesterday we went out to petsmart and picked up the doggy litter box, litter and a cute little backpack(so she can carry her own doggy bags~if that happens but she doesn't even think of trying to void herself outside of our yard). bunny also bought her that little pink t-shirt(it says "it's a girl") because her collar and lead are blue and he didn't want people to think she was a boy. lol!
it's nice to have another little one in the house! i know you're thinking it's like a zoo over here! lol! but it helps with my anxiety and depression to have my little pride and new pack~so todo esta bien!
well, that's about it for now. i'll be back tomorrow when millE is done with online school stuff! ciao for now!
abrazos,
bella

manny, moe and jack

2008-09-02T15:09:00.004-06:00

nope, not the pep boys~memphis' kittens!
yep, she finally had them! it was around 1717 when she had the first one on wednesday, 27 august! bless the lord it wasn't on my scrapbooking papers or the table! lol! she had the first one in the linen closet on the floor. it's so funny because before she climbed under the laundry basket in there i joked with her and said "oh memphis, are you going to have your babies in there?" and she looked at me and purred and meowed and hopped on top of the laundry basket and climbed under it. not even two hours later she was in labor! it was an awesome sight to behold!
ok, so she started to make that distinctive cry they said she'd make when i googled "pregnant cat info" and i ran and sure enough she was purring and i heard a little meow coming from under her. well i scooped her and the baby up and put them in a huge rubbermaid bin and ran them downstairs to the place i'd created for her to have them in the first place. i helped her get out the placenta for that one and sure enough about 20/30 minutes later she was pushing out number two! it was an honor to be her doula/nurse midwife she was so good in letting me help her get them out. she's such a lovely mum and her kittens are soooo sweet! the pics above are from their birthday. i'll take pics and post them of their 1 week birthday tomorrow! it looks like it's two boys and a girl. they're so stinkin' cute!
whew! am i glad that's over! it was a lot easier than i imagined it'd be and it was a great experience for millE in learning about birth. she was just in awe~ like a tourist taking video and pics of every single thing just about! lol! when i uploaded the pics from the sd card today, there were like six or seven videos of memphis birthing her babies or nursing them or just lying down with them and purring.
what a great experience for us. bunny barely got home just after the last one was born. i'd been talking to him when i heard memphis cry out and i like practically hung the phone up in his face i was so excited trying to run to her! lol! so, that's the story of memphis, manny, moe, and jack! hee! hee!
thanks for reading!
abrazos,
bella

first things first

2008-09-02T12:27:00.005-06:00

ok, so i know i said i'd be back over the weekend when i posted on friday 22 august. well... saturday my computer started acting very sickly. it was clicking/coughing and turning blue in the face(well, going to the blue screen) every time it had to be restarted or turned on and it wasn't loading pdf's and things. well, i nearly had a nervous breakdown freaking out(crying and boo-hooing creating a terribly snotty tear-stained face with puffy eyes~what a sight to see) over losing my computer~so many thoughts running through my head-'oh my g*d ~my blogs, millE's school, my pictures and music files, all of my scrapbooking pdf's...!'~agh!! so i calmed down for a moment and had the idea to call my lovely bil pop into my head(because he is the computer wizard/expert/sage/etc.etc.etc.) well, actaully, i made bunny speak to him first. i wanted bunny's blond roots to show before mine when speaking to him(lol!) then bunny handed the phone over to me and ok, so in speaking with him my inherently blond roots started to show anyway! i learned, through troubleshooting with him, that i have 52.2 gb's and i only had 1.97 gb's left!!!! agh! no wonder i had been getting the "your virtual memory is low" messages so often and my comp. had been running slower. ok, so i figured all that out by sunday with my computer and saving files and such and bunny said he'd either buy me a new computer or get me a very large external hard drive so i won't lose all of my stuff if the computer goes out. my bil also gave me a tutorial on how to save my files to a cd so i'm feeling a little better about it. i just have to get 'er done! lol! whew! glad i made it through that weekend!
fast forward through the week and lo and behold... memphis had her kittens on wednesday(yes, a week ago tomorrow~ see the next post for more details on that)!
i had my egd on thursday. the most i know is i have erosive gastropathy and esophagitis which i guess is pretty much gerd or something. i suppose that's why i wake up with pools of acid in my throat and ready to hurl my guts up every morning! so even still today i'm trying to get from under the anesthesia. i'm still really worn out from that. my lip is still fat from the bite block pinching it~i haven't needed to wear plumping lip gloss this week~lol! also, that same day we went over to "steve and barry's" and bunny bought me some cute clothes(he says that makes him my "suga' daddy" rofl! i joked with him and said at best he's my "splenda daddy"! rofl!). though i was still a bit groggy, it was fun. plus we were killing time until we drove out to herriman because we have a new family member~ her name is "abigail". i say it like "abb-ee-guy-eel" like the spanish pronunciation but we all just really call her abbey for short(see the post after the next post for more info on that).
oh my gosh and friday mi hermanita,jessi, de costa rica lost her sister(very tragic murder/suicide. i don't understand why the men get so crazed and selfish and murder the wife then commit suicide). when she finally spoke to me~oh my gosh, i've never heard my sister so sad in my life! after my sister gianinni called me to tell me what happened, i called her to make sure she was doing ok but she couldn't even talk on the phone. she took it so hard she just collapsed my bil said. she couldn't talk to me until saturday. thank goodness gianinni was able to drive down to san diego to be with her. it hurt so bad not to be able to fly over there for her. mi corazon is just broken! sunday, she and my bil flew back to costa rica to take care of things. so that made my weekend very somber. i hate to see the people i love suffer so much. i cried a lot last night just before falling asleep. you know when it's just a lot of things you just have to release so you just let it go and the tears are like streams after the snow melts off?! yeah, it was like that kind of cry. but i'm ok today.
let's see, what else? millE worked on school stuff sunday and yesterday because she took saturday as her holiday instead of yesterday.
then!!!~last night when i knew i'd have time to write on my blogs before i went to bed i had to go and slice my finger while making dinner! but i did try to write you all but i couldn't type very well with the bandage(well it was more like a huge wad of bloody gauze) on my finger. when it happened, it was like a volcano of red lava erupting! blood got everywhere in the kitchen but bunny wrapped it in gauze after i rinsed it under cold water and poured peroxide on it for a spell. it turned really purple for a minute because i had the gauze a little tight so i had to loosen it up a bit. it finally stopped bleeding after midnight so i was able to get comfortable and relax and try to go to bed. it made my left arm hurt intensely but i managed to fall asleep after 1 or 2. then abbey decided to get up at 0537 so i had to be up with her. another reason i'm so tired. lol!
anyway, virtual school is going well for millE. i know you're asking "why virtual school?" well, she begged us to let her try this because she'd been bullied at school. so, it's going well~ though we're still working the kinks out with our relationship since virtual school started. i had to tell her not to call me mom, "i'm your teacher's assistant so you need to respect me that way". so then she said she'd call me "mrs. mom, then" lol!
so you can see, when i said i had a lot to tell you since that last post, this is what i meant! but you know how i feel about things~todo esta bien! everything is going to be good.
ok, check out the next posts!
abrazos,
bella

i have a lot to share

2008-09-01T23:36:00.001-06:00

i have so much to share since my last post. stay tuned 'til tomorrow!
abrazos, bella

millE started virtual school

2008-08-21T20:45:00.003-06:00

yes, you heard right! she started virtual school on monday so i've had limited internet access for myself!
:0(
i miss you all~but don't worry, i'll be back this weekend if i don't make it here tomorrow! ciao for now!
abrazos,
bella

i'm a sucker for a man with blue eyes...

2008-08-16T13:15:00.003-06:00

bizhan just melts my heart! i swear he can play "puss in boots" in the stage production of shrek! he's so good at making you fall for him with just a little dilation of his pupils in his beautiful blue eyes!
it doesn't work all the time, sometimes he gets an "awww...you're so stinkin' cute~but you're still on timeout!" just before he gets placed in the bathroom for a timeout. lol!
my how he's grown! little choo choo! those of you that have kittens know what i mean about chew chew! i swear it's like having an infant/toddler at home! goodness, he's gets into so many of my things. when he's getting into my stuff and millE doesn't want to watch him then he's mine but when she feels like playing with him he's hers(teenagers)! lol!
~bella

ebony and ivory

2008-08-16T11:36:00.002-06:00

live together in perfect harmony... lol! for once she isn't hissing at him when he's near her! yep, it's miabella and bizhan or as i like to call them sarobi and simba! lol!

eatin' good in the neighborhood

2008-08-16T11:14:00.004-06:00

no, i don't mean that yucky applebee's i mean the delicious cookies my new neighbor sent over to me! well, you know i cannot go without sending a card to people for any occasion so i made them a "welcome to the neighborhood" card. bizhan was trying to be a model in those shots, as well! so i finally decided~'fine, i'll take a picture of you too, hammy choo choo!'

huh?! are you gasping? yes, i did create the card with a lot of ctmh items! lol!
here are the ingredients:

paper: silhouette bulk dot and floral, desert sand cs
inks: basic black(su), chocolate(ctmh)
stamps: welcome to the neighborhood
tools: paper snips
accessories: stampin' pastels
techniques: ink distressing

thanks for looking! please let me know what you think!
abrazos,
bella

sweet new neigbors!

2008-08-16T11:08:00.006-06:00

how sweet are they?! oh my goodness, they sent over like half a dozen cookies the other night to introduce themselves to us. so i decided to make them a thank you card. as you can see, bizhan decided he had to be a model in one of the pictures. he's such a ham!

here are the ingredients: paper: cs~whisper white, perfect plum and pale plum/dsp~bella rose
ink: versamark, regal rose
stamps: sprinkles and heartfelt thanks
tools: scallop border punch, paper piercer, stamp-a-majig, heat tool
accessories: stampin' pastels
techniques: two step stampin', watermark

let me know what you think!
abrazos, bella

whyyyy vh1...whyyyyy?!!!

2008-08-13T13:13:00.005-06:00

ok so bunny was on-call last night so millE and i had a late night watching t.v. and why did an autotune to vh1 have to come on with boyz n the hood just going off?! millE decides to grab a couple of the pride members(miabella and bizhan~i guess she gave memphis a break because she's preggers) and hops them into a gang! why vh1?! whyyyyy?! ok, so here are the pics of my little kitties trying to bear with millE's antics.

^poor miabella she was sweet and innocent

^ then she got hopped into the gang

^bizhan, looks scary! i think he was gang-related in one of his past nine lives! lol!

thank goodness they've been rehabbed and have left the gang. i have my sweet little kitties back now! no more boyz n the hood vh1!
lol!
~bella

i don't know nothin' 'bout birthin' no babies!!!!

2008-08-12T19:25:00.005-06:00

oh my goodness! the miracle of birth! ok, well, maybe we're not exactly there yet but oh my gosh! you're not even going to believe this!...
i felt memphis' little kittens kicking around in her belly today! i...i...i can't believe she's really and truly going to be a little mum! oh my goodness, i'm going to be the queen mum!
agh! i don't know nothin' about birthin' no babies!(i cannot remember what movie that was from but it still cracks me up to recall that line from that movie! lol)
ok, so of course i've googled pregnant cats(or queens) and "what signs to look for" when it's "about that time". well, they said she'd start doing the feline version of nesting and she'd make this unforgettable sound when she's in labor(probably like the screams of the women in the movies having babies). so i've spent the past few days following memphis around trying to see if she's ready. i'll tell you, i won't be too happy if she has those babies on my scrap table! i go down into ma patisserie and i find her little over-bloated self lying on my scrap table all the time! it's like i couldn't even hop up on the exam table the last bit of my pregnancy~how does she do it?! lol! i've tried making her some sweet little spots but she's not into them. i hope she'll decide to use one of them. i'm so afraid she'll decide behind the dryer is the perfect spot~agh!

i'll tell you, i just cannot believe i felt her little babies kicking around today! well, it's safe to say she's actually pregnant and not trying out for garfield in the next movie! she's tubby for a reason~she has babies in there! i cannot believe it! well, i'll keep you all posted on our pride's new arrivals when they get here!
abrazos,
bella
^ i had my baby on the fourth of july 1995~it was hot~it was summer and all i wanted to do was lounge around like this!
lol!

Solomente Para Mis Amigas Latinas!

2008-08-12T15:18:00.007-06:00

amigas! amigas!
mira a celebrando creatividad ! es un catalogo suplementario nuevo de stampin' up! en purro espanol! tengo su copia ahora mismo! llame me por favor para su copia! puedes comprarlo por solamente cuatro dolares usa(gratis de compra$20)!

all my latin girlfriends! take a look at the new spanish only catalog supplement celebrando creatividad from stampin' up! i speak more spanglish than fluent spanish but i have a copy available for anyone that would like to purchase one for $4(free w/$20 purchase)!if my spanish grammar is improper you can blame mi primo jaime! lol!
abrazos,
bella

you haven't seen anything like this before!

2008-08-11T21:22:00.003-06:00

did you not believe me when i got home from convention and i told you all that stampin' up! had ton of great things in store this fall/winter season?! well here is another promotion stampin' up! has in store for you! a discount on brand new stamp sets for a limited time! check out my fairy stampin' mother website for more details. i told you there were going to be lots of goodies! stay tuned for more!

ta dahhhhh!

2008-08-11T20:57:00.002-06:00

it's our lovely new fall/winter '08 idea book &catalog! don't you just love the scalloped edge on the front cover?! i love, love, love the new items in our new idea book and catalog! you should go to my website fairy stampin' mother to see it online! and order to your hearts content~i mean the new stuff(accessories and tools) and the new die cut stamps are to die for! let me know what you think! abrazos, bella

$99 Starter Kit Promotion

2008-08-11T20:40:00.002-06:00

$99 Starter Kit Promotion

Dates: August 11-October 11, 2008

Promotion details:

From August 11-October 11, potential recruits will have the option of becoming a Stampin' Up! demonstrator by purchasing one of three special mini Starter Kits* priced at $99.

Stamp-Focused Starter Kit:

Item Code	Description	Price
109515	Fun & Fast Notes stamp set	$30.95
105548	Bold Brights card stock assortment (8-1/2" x 11")	$7.95
101179	Basic Black Classic Stampin' Pad	$5.25
104332	SNAIL Adhesive	$6.95
100730	Whisper White card stock (8-1/2" x 11")	$7.50

Scrapbook-Focused Starter Kit:

Item Code	Description	Price
111570	Contempo Alphabet stamp set	$40.95
113059	Simply Scrappin' Petal Party	$19.95
105212	Pixie Pink Classic Stampin' Pad	$5.25

Home Décor-Focused Starter Kit:

Item Code	Description	Price
111656	Inspired by Nature stamp set	$23.95
114088	Décor Elements Chocolate Classic Ff	$3.95
114126	Décor Elements Medium Chocolate Long Stem Silhouettes	$17.95
114285	Décor Elements Applicator	$1.95
111835	Kiwi Kiss Classic Stampin' Pad	$5.25

*Each kit also includes the same business supplies that are found in the standard Starter Kit (the Home Décor-Focused Starter Kit also includes 25 Décor Elements brochures). While all items in the Starter Kits are recommended, a new demonstrator may substitute a like item of equal or lesser value.

sanela don't look!

2008-08-11T18:32:00.006-06:00

sanela, i mean it, don't look! is she looking?! she's not? good!
ok, so i recently found out that sanela's baby ayane(such a beautiful name and she's a beautiful little girl~check out sanela's blog if you don't believe me) is turning four (4) on 14 august. well, she loves pink as much as i do and so i had to make her a card. i mean she's a girl after my own heart with her love of pink! now i'm not as fond of monkeys as she is~ but the pink thing i'm totally into that! so here are three pics of the card i created for her yesterday and finished today.
here's the recipe:

stamps: sock monkey paper: bella rose dsp, whisper white, pretty in pink cs and pink pirouette cs ribbon: regal rose 5/8 grosgrain accessories: styled silver hodgepodge hardware rose ribbon slide, light pink chunky sprinkles inks: pretty in pink, creamy caramel, regal rose~and stampin' pastels in those colors tools: scallop border punch techniques: paper piecing

what do you all think? do you think it's too plain? i hope she'll love it~it's a pink card with a pink monkey~do you get more pink than that? :0)

thanks for looking!
abrazos, bella

it's coming together nicely

2008-08-10T13:42:00.004-06:00

ciao all! remember when i told you all i was the hostess for a card swap with my cropping chicks-ut group? well, it's all coming together nicely. i have most of the cards from the 14/14 swap now.
boy oh boy let me tell you~ i've learned some things about the group i wasn't made aware when i offered to hostess:1. procrastination is fine 2. almost everyone expects procrastination so they are fine whenever they receive their cards after the swap deadline.
well, this is going to be my last time hostessing because i got some finger shaking private messages over the deadline and procrastinators and i just don't want to deal with that again. i personally could care less about the deadline but i started this swap way back in june and i made the deadline the 8th of august so i would be sure to be done with the two ctmh swaps i was in and convention would be over and i'd have the energy to sort and get the cards mailed back. i tried to consider everyone with summer schedules and everything.
i love the group, but it was like some people were like 'i want mine now send me back my extras' and others were like 'well, i can wait until your hubby's next day off so you can wait for the late ones and mail mine back then'. the bittersweet thing about e-communication is you can't really tell a person's tone unless it's an obvious happy tone. so i don't know if the ones that said 'i want mine now, you gave two months for the deadline' are huffy or they're just needing their stuff now. ah well, 'tis life you cannot please all of the people all of the time and just barely some of the people some of the time! lol!
ok, so take a look at the pics. these are the nine cards i have so far. i made the criss cross card in the last pic. let me know what you think!
abrazos,
bella

monday 11 august 2008~check it out i've added a few more pics of the cards.

it's hump day!

2008-08-06T17:12:00.002-06:00

ciao all! whew! is it wednesday already?! i cannot believe it! i'm still sooooo tired from last week and why is it i try to sleep in for a long time and my body is like "nah, i feel like waking up"?! i'm so excited that bunny purchased a new digital camera, so i'll be able to take better pictures to post for you all! you can see with the pics from convention that i've got something greater than my cellphone camera now! woo hoo! i hope you all are having a great week so far! remember the new catalog comes out monday! i'll be posting some more pics later this evening. let me know what you think!
ciao for now!
abrazos, bella

sharing what i love 24/7!

2008-08-05T14:25:00.005-06:00

yes, coming monday 11 august 2008 i will be able to share what i love 24/7 as stampin' up! will have our websites able to process online orders placed on them!
i'm so stoked i don't know what to do with myself! now i can share so many other things i don't have posted on my blogs with you!
you will want to take a look at my website: fairy stampin' mother and see what i have planned!
yes, i know what you're asking "her website isn't bella's petit gateaux too?!" well, i'll tell you, it was...but i changed it to fairy stampin' mother because that's what i feel i have been for so many people! i love helping others create beautiful and awesome projects! so when it comes to cupcakes(petit gateaux~and why didn't i know cupcakes were so popular when i chose the name for my blog just because of good eats?!) those are what i personally create and as far as sharing the fabulous things stampin' up! offers through projects and products i'm your fairy stampin' mother by bringing those to you through my website!
thank you for your support! have a great tuesday!
abrazos, bella
p.s. you will even be able to order a copy of the fall/winter idea book & catalog on my website(you'll have to pay different shipping though)!

have i mentioned...

2008-08-05T13:32:00.007-06:00

how much fun i had at convention?! oh my goodness, i'm still riding high on the great excitement that carried me through! i will have to share a few more things with you!

my major faux pas:
1. not wearing better shoes~ i only had my dress shoes and boots
2. no band-aids for blisters on my feet~ my boots scraped skin off the back of my feet!
3. not taking my rolling tote to hold the heavy stuff until the last day!
4. not putting my upline and unit sisters' phone numbers in my cellphone before i left for convention the first day(i totally thought i did, but in my anticipation i must've forgot)
5. not having enough gum or breath mints for after lunch~not everyone ate the garlicky food so i felt self conscious with just having certs!
6. not saving enough money to shop at memento mall the first day

some great things i learned stampin' up! has in store for the world:
1. stampin' up! will have a 20+ page spread in country living magazine! look for that this december!
2. stampin' up! will have the 3m(scotch brand tape) products in most stores really soon so that the public can learn of stampin' up! through the projects included on their 3m products and try to contact demonstrators!
3. stampin' up! teamed up with sizzix to have an exclusive big shot! the dies are to die for!
4. stampin' up! will look into expanding the market in mexico, central and south america(we already have puerto rico!) once they see how well the celebrando creatividad idea book and catalog supplement does! celebrando creatividad is our new idea book and catalog supplement solely in spanish! it contains exclusive stamp sets that are not in english as well as certain english sets in spanish! if you'd like to have a copy of that new addition to stampin' up!'s catalog line please write me a comment. it's just $4 to reserve your copy! you will be able to order from celebrando creatividad starting monday 11 august 2008.
5. all of the new stamp sets in the fall/winter idea book & catalog will be die-cut! sets that still had to be trimmed in the spring/summer idea book & catalog will still need to be trimmed but all new sets will be die-cut and you'll see a note telling you which sets are die-cut as well as available in spanish! you don't want to miss out on getting a copy of that idea book & catalog!
6. the decor element's phase two is going to rock your world! they are awesome!

some fun things i did in and out of the convention hall:
1. i made so many new friends~yes, me! the agoraphobe~i made friends! woo hoo!
2. had a fun outing to the riverton campus/stampin' up! headquarters
3. had a fabulous outing to dear lizzie's in alpine, utah with my unit
4. had a fantastico dinner at buca di beppo with my unit the last night of convention
5. attended the awards night show~i know what i'm striving for now so i can walk across the stage next year!
6. made great make-n-takes( i'll post pics soon)
7. ate fabulously delicious lunches that were provided to us from our convention registration fee
8. i stayed with my friend micki a few times at her hotel room and chatted!

my major do rights!
1. i took a smile with me everyday!
2. i took out the things i wouldn't need on certain days so i could lighten the load of my convention bag
3. i took meticulous notes in my classes so i'd have fun things to share with you all and remember the awesome things i learned to be an even better creative coach!
4. i gave myself positive self-talk so i could help curb my anxiety and make it through convention with the other 5,999 attendees
5. i had a gracious attitude so i could have lots of great things come to me~isn't it during the times we are so completely humble that we learn and gain such great things?!
6. i wore comfortable but professional looking clothes

i love you guys! thank you for supporting my blog! please let me know what you think!
abrazos,
bella

some fun things i heard at convention...

2008-08-05T13:26:00.007-06:00

1. lots of screaming with excitement!
2. lots of clapping with excitement!
3. lots of "oh my gosh, how stinkin' cute is that?!"
4. lots of "swaps, are you swapping?"
5. lots of whistling with excitement
6. lots of yea's with excitement
7. lots of fun 80's music!
8. lots of feet moving forward in the lines
it was incredible! i could only think of one thing that would've made it totally perfect~i wanted sanela there to enjoy and experience it with me!
~bella

celebrate good times, come on!

2008-08-03T22:15:00.007-06:00

there's a party goin' on right here! a celebration to last throughout the years! so bring your good times and your laughter too, we're gonna celebrate and party with you! cellllebration! ...everyone around the world come on! yahoo! it's a celebration!
stampin' up! is turning 20! and there are awesome new products they're offering in the fall/winter idea book & catalog!

yes, it's true that convention is over but the celebration isn't going to stop! i know some of you have heard through the grapevine that there will be a new scallop edge punch through stampin' up!~you are correct sir! but there's another new scallop punch on top of that one!
another sneak peek item~stampin' up! has partnered with sizzix to bring you an exclusive stampin' up! sizzix big shot! starting 2 september 2008 you will be able to order it! let me tell you, the exclusive stampin' up! dies are absolutely to die for! you're not going to want to miss it! you're going to love the big shot starter kit!

the decor elements stage 2 line will be available in the fall and there will be awesome new shapes and they will be featuring many of stampin' up!'s exclusive colors! don't worry, you'll still be able to get whisper white, kraft, and chocolate chip decor elements too!
the last thing i'm going to let you know about that will be coming out in the fall/winter idea book & catalog is the new vanilla cream hodgepodge hardware kit!
you're going to love, love, love, loooove the new idea book & catalog. please email me to reserve your copy!
i guarantee you're going to love what stampin' up! is planning for the rest of this 20th anniversary year! this will be a twenty year anniversary you won't disappointed in celebrating!
abrazos,bella

love, love,love ups!

2008-08-03T21:21:00.008-06:00

why? because they donated 6,000 stampsets to all of us that attended the stampin' up! convention this past week(well, that's not the only reason but it's a huge one)! it was awesome! there were fireworks and confetti canons and just awesome special effects! it was great!
after i've placed an order, i love to see that little brown truck pulling up to our house and my "boyfriend"(it's ok, bunny knows it's not serious~lol) in his little brown uniform hopping out of his truck to walk across the grass to my front door to hand me my box of stampin' up! cupcakes! maybe you can see from the pics just how kewl it was!
the stampset that ups donated to all of the demonstrators at convention is the "say it with scallops" set that will be available in the new fall/winter idea book & catalog. it is the ronald mcdonald house set.
this is my first year with stampin' up! (yea, i'm a little over two months old now! hee hee!) and it is a goal of mine to sell at least ten of the stamp sets to help benefit the ronald mcdonald house. that will mean that stampin' up! will donate at least $20 of my sales to the charity! as you all know, every little bit helps! i'll tell you this little tidbit, there is a coordinating scallop punch to go with that stampset and it's not a circle!
i'm just so excited! this set is so cute, i know scallop lovers from all over will have to have it! if you'd like to pre-order a copy of the fall/winter idea book(~$10 includes shipping), please leave a comment or email me and i'll get it sent out to you (when it comes in). the idea book & catalog will be released on 11 august 2008! keep your eye out, i'll be posting a card i've made with it!
please join me in letting ups know how awesome they are and contact them to say thanks! woo hoo! go brown!
look what brown can do for you!
abrazos, bella

wait until i share with you what stampin' up! has to offer after convention!

2008-08-02T01:21:00.004-06:00

ciao ladies! i'm way past burning the midnight oil! bunny barely picked me up at the train station an hour ago!~i've been having such late nights! but tonight, before i take a shower, i wanted to check in with you all and let you know that convention is going sooooo great and you're going to love what i have to share with you in regards to new product coming out in our fall/winter idea book & catalog! if you love scallops~you'll want to stay tuned! one thing i can't keep bottled up is the new "sweet bella" style focus that will be in the new catalog! no joke! the line is named "sweet bella"! you should have heard me scream when some of the new sweet bella line stamps and papers were demonstrated in awesome projects!
well, that's all i'm going to mention for now... i hope you all are having a great week! i miss you all and i'll be back sunday to give you guys a small little sampling of some great things you should put on your wish lists!
have a great saturday!
abrazos, bella

i'm alive!

2008-07-30T19:37:00.003-06:00

i did it! i survived going alone to convention! i survived taking public transportation alone! it was not easy, though. i cried a little after bunny dropped me off at the front runner station but i kept telling myself 'i'm open to not having anxiety today. i'm open to not being afraid to do this by myself.' i also called bunny a lot to calm my anxiety too. one time i called and i said 'i'm nervous, that's why i keep calling a lot.' and he said, 'it's ok buddha.'
you all know why he paid for me to go to convention don't you? he did it to try to get me out of the house because my agoraphobia has been very bad. well, anyway, i managed to get through today and make it home still early enough to welcome millE home from yw's camp and to get some things done around the house. i'm going to bed early so i can get up early and not want to sleep in my classes. tomorrow will be an even greater push of my anxiety, but i'm sure i can do it.
oh, i forgot to mention that i got major blisters on my achilles tendons because my boots had worn into them but i didn't realize it until i got on the front runner home.
oh and a major faux pas on my part~not putting my upline's cellphone number in my cellphone so i could see where they all were going to be today.
oh, and the tour to the riverton campus rocked! it's so gorgeous out there! it was so awesome to see stampin' up!'s history on the walls and in the galleries see the people of demo support, watch the boxes of stamps be packed in the distribution center. it's really an awesome place!
ok, ok, that's it. that's all i have to report for today. ttys
abrazos,
bella

convention or bust!

2008-07-27T14:19:00.002-06:00

wow! i cannot believe i will be at my stampin' up convention in three days! i'm so stoked! it's like incredible how i'm even able to go! convention will be 30 july, 31 july, 1 august and 2 august. i will probably only be able to blog in the evenings. it's going to be held at the lovely salt palace convention center. i wish i had a laptop then i could blog to you from it, but alas...i don't! don't worry, i'll fill you in on all of the fun details next week!

i've been...

2008-07-27T14:13:00.002-06:00

working on scs challenges for the fan club and the private blog today.
i hope you all have had a lovely weekend! i'll be posting some of my challenge projects and more within the next couple of days.